The Mimer
by Suki.Fictionist
Summary: She was like no other he had met and she did not cease to amaze him. Joker was glad that she just so happened to 'appear' out of no where, otherwise he would've never met this... this speechless criminal. Come and see just how much trouble, Chaos, this little Mime causes that renders Batman and the inhabitants of Gotham city speechless, at least not literally.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi people, this is only my second TDK fanfiction so please bear with me, I hope you enjoy it.**

Chapter 1: The Mimer

Adam sat there with his hands cuffed together along with everyone else, along with the Boss: the Joker. A few days ago the new recruits were brought and the Joker had given them a big speech on how not to get caught otherwise… they would get their throats slit or even worse.

They were in dimly light metallic room that had been once a massive store room, no one knew what Scarecrow had planned to do to them but they all knew that if they got out here alive the Joker would make sure that they wouldn't survive his wrath: they were all on their knees and were in a tight circle all facing forwards to a door and Adam felt his knees go numb as the feeling slowly left his legs. Somehow the new recruits had messed up on the first day and had them all captured. The Joker was glaring daggers at a particular new recruit known as Tim; silently whispering his painful demise.

Tim was a small, timid little fella, with ginger hair, brown eyes and a fragile small body structure. He was a wimp. Adam felt like beating the little kid up for his big mistake but he knew that the Joker would get him first.

Scarecrow appeared from the shabby door, wearing his usual suit that was sported with the _special _mask of his "Well, well, well _never_ had I thought I would catch the mad dog known as the Joker… and it's all thanks to the _fresh_ recruits"

Joker looked calm, which was never a good thing "Hey, _Crow_. Why don't you, uh, _loosen_ these cuffs and see how the _dog_ will react, Hm?" Joker cocked his head.

Scarecrow hesitated "I have _business_ to attend to but don't worry, I'll leave my men to keep an eye on you, is that fine?" the Scarecrow didn't wait for an answer, he walked off.

Once again the Joker and his men were alone together and unfortunately for them they all had been stripped of their weapons. Except Adam still had a small flip up phone in his shoe, he always kept something hidden in his shoe just in case something like _this _happened.

"Hey, Georgie!" Adam whispered, to his friend.

A big bulky bald tanned looking guy turned his head, his head tattoo of the words "Saint Mary" stood out from his temple "What?" Georgie's scars on his shoulders and arms were quite visible through the white vest he was wearing along with the army pants.

Adam gestured to his shoe "Take off my shoe and to get to the phone out" he added "My hands are behind my back I can't reach my foot"

Georgie gave him a weird look before arching his back to reach his foot and roughly pulled his shoe off, the old flip up phone make a loud clinking sound as it fell and the Joker spoke up "If you're, uh, going to do something tell me first so you don't _mess up_"

Adam winced "Sorry Boss" Adam then climbed over his legs so that his hands were in front of him, he rapidly turned on the phone and seared through his contacts and found his target.

He dialled and everyone was leaning in the circle, Tim asked "Who are you calling?"

Adam growled back at him "A _professional_ who doesn't make a sound!"

Georgie butted in "_No_! Not her! Don't tell me you're calling _her?_"

"What choice do we have?" Adam hushed him.

"Adam you're being irrational" another henchmen, Guy, spoke "She's our last _resort_"

"This is the _last_ _resort_" Adam argued back.

The men stopped their quarrelling when Joker brought himself towards Adam and loomed over him "Is she, uh, good?"

Adam's breathing hitched "The best"

Joker stared at him, contemplating Adam's judgement of this _woman_ "Call her" the Joker nodded.

The phone dialled only twice before it was picked up, Adam was met with silence but that was expected, he whispered with a voice laced with worry "Hey, it's me Adam. I need your help"

Silence from the other end.

"I hope I didn't catch you on a bad time"

Silence again.

Adam was desperate "Please I'll _repay_ you on the spot"

The only response was the sound of fingers being drummed on a table once. The call ended.

Adam, Georgie and Guy relaxed and Adam replace his phone and shoe. The others looked at him with confusion, the Joker especially.

As Joker opened his mouth the door swung open and the Scarecrow's men entered the room, about time! Where had they been? They were all armed with something. Two of them had metallic bats, one had some sort of metal pipe with a sharp end and three had shotguns. Six of them in total and Joker suspected whether or not this _woman _could take out these big muscly men.

They scattered around the room, Tim cowered away as one of them men with shotguns aimed it dangerously at him and chuckled darkly. Just as the man was going to remark something there was knock on the shabby door.

Adam, Georgie and Guy perked up and the rest of Joker's men that this was the woman they had called. Joker found it strange how quickly she had found them as Adam didn't even give her any clue as to where they were.

The men scattered around the room stared at the door until it slowly opened to reveal a petite women in the door way. Joker took one look at her and turned his head questionably to Adam who motioned everyone to look at her.

She wore a Mime's costume and makeup. She sported a pair of typical black Mime trousers with the suspenders (though you couldn't see the suspenders due to her blazer), with a white buttoned up shirt that was flawless with no creases at all, she also added her own touch to the costume and added a spikey white ruff on her shirt that she used as a tie? She also wore a black velvet blazer that's shoulders were tipped upwards slightly and complemented her beautiful thin waist.

Her jet black hair had been pulled up in a tight bun and she wore a curvy top hat that had been slanted to a side on her head to her right. Her face was covered with pale white makeup, her lips looked more plumped than they really were due to crimson lipstick that were in a shape of a cherry, her cheekbones had a slight blush (very slight) to them and her eyes had been covered by small diamonds but Joker noted that on her left eye, at the tip of the diamond's bottom was a small yet obvious black tear.

She stepped in the room, her black leather shoes shinning, almost grinning up at the spectators and she held up her hands, that was when Joker noted the white mime gloves, and kept her hands in front of her wordlessly telling them to 'stop'. Scarecrow's men all stared at her dumbfounded.

She stretched out her hands to emphasise that nothing was in them and she placed her left arm on her waist and lifted her right arm, flexing it and bending her hand as if holding a plate in her right hand. She cocked her head to the right. The left tear became more obvious (at least to Joker) and looked at Scarecrow's men almost telling them to question her… and they did.

The one with the pipe yelled at her "Who are you and what are you doing?"

The women lifted her hand from her waist and pointed to him raising her brows almost saying silently 'Ah' and she retrieved a black piece of silk cloth from her pocket and put in on her empty hand. When she lifted it from her hand and revealed her hand that was closed into a fist and she held it out.

The man with the pipe neared her and stopped when he was an inch away from her. Joker saw the corners of her lips twitch; but it was hard to tell as the pale white makeup covered the tips of her lips. She hunched over a bit and opened her fist that was full of some sort of white chemical, before the man could move she blew it directly at his face.

He screamed and his hands flew to his face: to be specific to his eyes that seemed to be burning. He dropped the pipe and the woman caught it. The men with the bats lunged at her and one of the gun men aimed at her but using the pipe she shifted his gun so that it was aimed another gun man and the man shot killing one of the gun men, she kicked him in the shin and stole his shot gun shooting on of the men with the bats. Two down, three to go.

She shot at the man whose gun she stole and his head blasted open as he was kneeling down, the other man with the bat came at her but she pierced the pipe in his gut and pushed him off. The other two gun man fired at her but she hid behind a pillar away from everyone's view. The remaining two men were armed with shotguns and she was corned, or so they thought.

When they turned, one was hit in the chin with the butt of the gun and the other was kicked over, the woman shot at the man who had been hit in the chin and got him straight in the heart, whilst the remaining man was down she headed towards one of the bats and picked it up; the shotgun was abandoned and she sauntered over to him. He started to crawl back towards Joker and his men, terrified, as to what she would do to him. She towered over the man, who was practically putting his weight on Joker's knee, but Joker made no effort to push him off as he was curious as to what this woman would do.

Once she was by his feet she flipped the bat handed it to him. The man stared up at her like she was crazy but as he reached forward for it; she had pulled on the bat that he clasped and stabbed him in the Jugular with a knife.

He fell dead with a loud thud, and she stared at him and cocked her head curiously. She shook her head ever so slightly and turned to Adam and the men as they were beginning to stand up.

"Mimer!" Adam exclaimed "I'm so glad you could make it, as promised I will repay you… just not right now"

The one known as Mimer shook her head like she expected this and motioned for his hands. He held them out happily. She worked fast on his cuffs and headed to the next one, and the next, and the next until finally she came to Joker who stared down at her curiously. She didn't look up at him at all, at least not until she finished with his cuffs and glanced at his face before turning back to Adam.

Georgie clapped a hand on her shoulder "Really owe it to you Mimer, I promise to pay you back if Adam doesn't"

She smiled up at him but didn't say anything.

"Sorry Mimer but we really needed help and well I know you don't trust me anymore but-" before Adam could go on Mimer started to shake her hands and motioned her open hand and fingered her palm then lifted that finger and shook it and started to make some signs that Joker could not understand.

Adam shook his head "If you say so"

Guy protested "Oh come on, you owe her that much Adam!"

Georgie joined "Guy's right Adam, you're in so much debt to Mimer"

Before it turned into a full-fledged fight Mimer stepped in between the boys and make some more hand motions some Joker recognised but most were nothing. In the end all three men were nodding in agreement. In frustration of being ignorant of the matter Joker cleared his throat getting the attention of everyone, including 'Mimer'.

"Well, since we're done here how about we go, oh, and you" Joker pointed to Mimer "Are coming with us as well, I need to _repay_ you" but before he could grab her she stepped away and held out a hand to stop him.

She then tipped her head and went to leave but after a few steps there were footsteps behind her and it was the Joker trying to catch her but she turned and pointed to Georgie and put her index finger and her thumb together and put it under her lip she them opened them and stretched them apart and smiled raised her brows. She them beamed and pulled out her black silk cloth again. It was much larger now; bigger than her and she disappeared behind it.

The Joker realized that both the cloth and Mimer had disappeared "Adam, why don't we, uh, talk about your little friend when we get back"

They all shuffled out and everyone noticed the dead bodies lying on the floor in several places as they headed out. The Joker was impressed, that one woman took down all these men single handed.

* * *

Luckily for Tim when they all arrived back Joker was too deep in though to deal with him. Joker dragged Adam, Georgie and Guy to his room and cornered them "Mind telling me who, uh, your little friend was"

Georgie shifted "That was The Mimer"

Guy added "A.K.A The Mime"

Joker slipped out his switchblade "Why don't you call her back and, uh, tell her you'll pay her right now"

Adam shook his head begrudgingly "She doesn't want money"

"Oh?" Joker licked his lips "Why, uh, not?"

"She _hates_ money, _despises_ it, I pay her back by giving her any information she wants" Adam spoke softly.

"Well tell her you're going to, uh, repay her then" Joker waved his blade in front of his face and signalled them to 'get out'.

As Adam closed the door he heard Joker chuckle "Tell her I'll be, uh, waiting"

**Might be continued…**

* * *

**Hi guys I hope you enjoyed this so far, I'll only update it if people are interested otherwise…. You get the point. Please leave a review and tell me what you thought about it.**

**Suki**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am back! Yes, I have decided to continue with this wonderful story of the Mimer, I hope you guys will be as glad as me, because I now know I will most certainly continue this story. Thank you for all of the following people for reviewing ****lunabloodmoon666****, ****Royallee214****, ****(Guest reviewer) Harlequin****, ****(Guest reviewer) mj****, ****Cotton Blossom Diva****, ****Grex****, ****shika93****, ****KoreanMusicFan****, ****jasmine. ****, ****Gracefully****, ****jrmf****, and of course the rest of the ****Guest**** reviewers.**

**lunabloodmoon666****: **I agree that Joker wouldn't be so calm with Mimer's vanishing act and I hope I have improved his reactions in this chapter.

**Harlequin (Guest reviewer)****: **I wanted there to be a lack of Joker's insanity in the first chapter simply because this chapter was supposed to be a sort of introduction of Mimer, but yes, don't worry, I will make sure to capture Joker's insanity in the coming chapters. Also I didn't want to reveal all of Mimer's traits in the first chapter (strange, I know) but I wanted to slowly unravel her character. As for a weapon, I'm not sure if she will have her own unique weapon, I might give her one, I'm not sure, but she'll most definitely be armed, it'll depend on how I decide to layout the story (if that makes sense): if you have any preferences do PM me.

**mj (Guest reviewer)****: **I agree, there have to be woman that aren't victims or aren't exactly like Joker himself. Mimer isn't a victim but she has faced many difficulties, as do all people in life.

**Guest (who reviewed Jun 1)****:** Mimer is admittedly a strange character. Not much interests her but yes over time she will be more intrigued by Joker and his… strange ways. In this chapter you will see a slight change from her character wise. Now, Joker on the other hand, isn't innocent, like you said so yourself. Personally I don't see Joker the type to smoke, drink or do any type of drugs due to the health problems however like you said he might be interested in woman but not overly interested either.

**Grex****: **I'm glad that you've decided to read it, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Guest (who reviewed Aug 31)****: **Thank you for your kind words, but in terms of the next chapter, it may be slow, because I plan to give this story my full on attention when I have completed my other TDK story and that is about half way done: but don't worry I will update this story slowly, so you won't be left in the dark for too long.

**jrmf****: **I will continue this story but slowly.

**To everyone else who has reviewed about how they can't wait for the next chapter and how it sounds interesting; thank you for reviewing, I hope that you will enjoy this chapter and I hope I didn't make you wait too long.**

**Bold **= thoughts

**Please do enjoy! (Think of this as a late Christmas gift and a early happy new year gift)**

Chapter 2: Tryst?

Three days it had been since Joker had encountered Mimer for the first time, and he was just itching to meet her once more. Apparently, she was a hard person to get to. Adam called the Mime thrice a day yet he had gotten no reply.

What a shame that was. If one more hour past without a reply from the Mimer, Joker would have to kill Adam for his incompetence.

Joker rested his feet on the table, as he himself rested on a lime simple upholstered vintage armchair that was placed in his office. Joker's office was the grandest room in the whole dilapidated apartment. He had the whole entire floor to himself, whilst his men had the first floor to themselves.

So, Joker was at the third floor, the training was at the second floor and the men were at the first floor and the ground floor was well, to everyone.

Simple, yet some useless men had the gall to not obey those simple unstated rules. There was one rule that everyone knew and that was 'not to go to the third floor', and yet Joker would find the need to kill a few men here and there because they couldn't stay to their own area.

As Joker fiddled with his recently polished switch blade, he couldn't help but stare in awe of how beautiful it was.

With his feet rested on the table, ankles crossed, coat draped behind him, he was caught out of his daze when he heard a rhythmic beat growing louder. Joker thought at first it was his imbecilic men banging their drums once more but then as it neared his floor he realised it was someone running up towards him.

Joker narrowed his eyes slightly, bringing the switch blade dangerously close to his right cheek as he slightly turned his head towards the door. Everyone knew they were only allowed on the third floor, on Joker's floor, if it was an emergency or when he called for them. So why was someone in such a hurry to get to him, of all people?

Joker mentally counted the steps that were taken. Three, two, one…

Adam flung the door wide open, leaning on it as he caught his breath, "Boss! Mim- Mimer got back!"

Joker watched the sweat dribble down his face and how it soaked his fading grey shirt, then he turned his gaze to Adam's eyes "And what did she, uh, say?"

"She-" Adam huffed and puffed, trying to suck in as much air as he could "…she said she'll pop by shortly-"

"_Pop_ by when?" Joker interjected, sitting up slightly and bringing his feet down.

"Uhm…" Adam became nervous, his hands visibly shaking slightly "Right about now".

As if rehearsed the phone in Joker's room rang. Joker stood swiftly and answered the ancient phone, putting it on silent "Yes?" he asked in his clown like voice.

The man on the other side hesitated "Boss! There's a…" the man paused, seemingly looking over at the intruder "There's a woman here… dressed sorta like a mime-"

"_Ah_, yes. Send her up, will ya?" Joker exclaimed "Oh and uh, she's our guest so be on your best behaviour. Make sure the boys know how to treat the lady, understand?" the Joker nodded.

"Sure thing Boss…" the man hesitated again "Boss? Should I also send Georgie and Guy up as well?"

Joker was going to say against it but recalled that they were 'friends' with this Mime as was Adam so answered with a simple yes.

After a few awkward minutes of Adam standing in the corner trying his best to look at everything but Joker; the door to his office opened up with a small and quick groan and in stepped in Georgie and Guy, and after them the Mimer.

The three henchmen shuffled awkwardly into a shadowy corner whilst Mimer walked in quite humbly, subtly tipping her hat at Joker whilst inclining her head as well, just so subtly.

Joker couldn't help but mentally take notes of every little thing this little woman did, "Well, isn't it a, uh, pleasure to meet you again _beautiful_…" he slowly rolled out the words, standing up and circling her.

He saw the corner of her lips twitch upwards but otherwise got no notice of his words. Not a sound.

Once he had circled her once he came to stand right in front of her, looming over her, scrutinizing everything on her face.

She had applied her make-up recently. The foundation was gentle on her skin but kept on the firm mask, her lipstick made her lips plump and full leaving no fault to be seen, her blusher made her cheek bones pop out, and the deep black diamonds commentated her massive dark brown eyes.

The tear on left cheek had been newly applied with the inky black paint and the Joker couldn't help but feel that the tear was much smaller than he had seen it last time.

He would've leaned in more to look into her eyes more closely as the more he looked into them; the more he realised that she was calm and collected, unfortunately her ruff like tie had prevented him to lean too closely to her face.

Joker grinned stretching his scars, "You know, I didn't get a chance to repay you as you had _disappeared_ so quickly…"

The Mimer batted her long curly eyelashes and slightly tilted her head to the left, as if to say 'Oh well'.

The Joker nodded "And I would very much like to _repay_ you for your… _assistance_"

Joker waited patiently for a verbal response form the mime but it seemed her lips were sealed shut firmly. Joker vaguely felt the other men in the room struggle to refrain themselves from interrupting and potentially angering him.

As Joker's eyes sharply flicker from the men to the mime in front of him, he caught her eyes staring at his mouth. Joker felt white hot anger build up inside of him however as he caught her eyes he realised she was staring at his lips not so much the scars the accompanied his _gracious_ lips.

He tensed his jaw before he let a sneer remark leave his lips "It seems as though the cat has got your tongue, _dear_"

The Mimer's eyes flickered up to his own eyes a few moments later. If Joker still had the talent of reading people, he had caught amusement in her big bulging eyes. Slowly, those crimson lips curled up in a smile, and she then turned her eyes to Adam and the others.

Finally, Adam coughed, breaking the seemingly rising tension "Boss. I think you should know-"

"Know what, hm?" Joker growled at him, only to turn back to find the Mimer gone when Adam groaned.

Joker slowly turned his head to glare daggers at the three men in his office, "Where'd she go?"

Both Adam and Georgie looked at Guy expectantly, to which he rolled his eyes and murmured "Nice going, throwing me under the bus…"

Joker took careful steps towards him, keeping his anger at bay "Where'd the _mime_ go?"

Guy's eyes went wide, "She- she got her pay so she took off… she-"

Guy hesitated, biting back the words, to which Joker grabbed him by the neck "What was that? I didn't quite, uh, get that?"

"She took off because she got her pay and… nothing here was of interest to her" Guy stared into those two black holes that were Joker's eyes, trying to breathe as smoothly as he could but failed due to Joker crushing his windpipe.

Joker let out a short sharp unamused laugh, "_Nothing of interest_?" Joker abruptly ceased his laughter and tightened his grip on his neck "Got her _pay_ did she? From _where_ I wonder…"

Guy was a good henchman but not matter how loyal he was, all good things came to an end, and Guy was one of those good things.

As Joker was about to plunge his sweet switch blade into Guy repeatedly Joker heard someone clear their throat from behind him. Joker's switch blade froze mid-air, nearly puncturing Guy's skin. Joker blinked and furrowed his brows; he suddenly let go of Guy and glanced behind him to find the mime with a tea cup and saucer in hand, seated near his desk that he was at not too long ago.

Joker flickered his deadly gaze at the three men and sent them running out to their own burrows. Joker sat himself in his armchair once again and scraped it as he brought it closer to the pleasantly awaiting mime. She lightly forced a smile as he leaned forward on his knees. To any untrained eye it was a small quick smile but Joker could tell that she did not want to smile. Not at all.

In fact, she looked bored once more. However that could be due to the poor lighting of them room, and the fact that darkness was falling outside.

Joker nodded "Say, what would you be drinking there?"

Joker could've sworn that she stifled a snort of laughter in amusement of his attempt of a small talk. She brought her gaze from her dark coffee to his eyes and she raised it, probably in attempt of a toast?

Joker began to soak in all the little details such as how her shoes were not polished to the point that they were grinning but simply shining that was beginning to dull.

He took her silence as an answer, saying 'Cut the foreplay.'

Joker bowed his head, and what with the dull lighting caused a shadow to be casted over his eyes that made it look as if those two dark pits were deeper and soulless as they looked.

It was here Joker took note of Mimer's change of deportment. Joker noticed her pupils dilate, her posture taller, firm, confident, intrigued and her lips were pulled in a stern line.

What had caused this change, Joker had no idea, but now he wanted to keep it that way. He did not want her to be relaxed, bored and comfortable. Joker was not used to that and to be honest he didn't like it either. He was not comfortable how someone could be so carefree in his presence when all his life everyone around him had been so intimidated, so cowardly, so jittery.

He bobbed his knee repeatedly showing his impatience, however he did not get any verbal response from her. In the end, taking the mental note that the Mimer was not one for many words: in fact she was a woman of action than words.

Consequently, Joker went on "Do tell me, _Doll_" Joker mocked her of her appearance "what business are you in?"

He saw her smile briefly when he called her 'Doll' and looked towards his own work. His work being all of the blue prints, newspapers and notes scattered on his large worn out mahogany desk.

He took that as an answer, an answer of 'I'm in the same business like yourself.'

Joker nodded, "And have you met the other, uh, _dogs_ that follow our line of _work_"

Mimer smiled, but this smile was genuine unlike the others and looked towards the ceiling as if saying 'Oh yes!'

Joker chuckled lightly "And how do, uh, you find them?"

The Mimer set her saucer and teacup down and placed her hands gently over her lap as she sat side ways like any good _well-mannered_ woman should, with her knees pointed sideways and her torso up straight. She then exhaled loudly and _exaggeratingly_ whilst she shook her head.

Joker grunted "Likewise"

Joker then stood up and sauntered to a far corner of the room and looked through the boarded windows to see a group of prostitutes entering the shabby building that he and his men were residing in. Joker hummed in success, his senses were still as young as they were. He could practically smell the whores coming from a mile away.

Yet, why hadn't he heard the Mimer come in and out of his office? She had been as silent as death.

He hesitantly glanced beside him to make sure that the woman was still her spot that he had left her in however to his surprise she was right behind him. Had he not been suspicious he would've jumped in surprise but he was, in a way, expecting her to have moved from her spot.

He then clicked his tongue and nodded to her to come beside him, why he had taken such comfort to her in such short time was seriously disturbing the Joker and Mimer to some length.

She came to stand beside him and followed his gaze to belittle the woman that worked the _night_. He grunted as he tried not to chuckle "Sorry beautiful, but me and my men have to keep ourselves warm at night somehow, right?"

The Mimer looked towards Joker with an arched brow as if she were looking at him over and again once more, being taken back that Joker would need 'a piece of meat to keep him warm', as he had put it…

Joker smirked down at her "I suppose you would, uh, be leaving… However you are welcome to stay"

The Mimer looked him over once again and shook her head at his joke and grunted to herself. She began her way towards the exit however before she could take a step out; Joker caught her wrist "Oh Doll, _Mime_, don't be sad… I enjoyed _this_" Joker pointed between them, Mime held back a scoff. What made him think she was upset? Joker carried on "And I would very much like to _repay_ you myself. Perhaps another time?"

Though Mimer was not focusing on what he was saying, more on where and how he was holding her, she nodded nonetheless.

Just as Joker let go of Mimer and she began to make her way out, she side stepped as a scantily dressed blonde shuffled in Joker's room (like the prostitute was repelling her). Joker leaned against the threshold and watched Mimer's form fade away in the dark corridor, she was far from _odd_ indeed. The blonde woman was practically shoved into Joker's room by his goons, the other prostitutes were for his henchmen for their 'good work'.

The petite blonde woman seemed to be hesitant with fear as she realised that this man, this monster, in front of her was the infamous Joker. However with the drugs and alcohol pumped into her, she managed to not be paralyzed.

What a joke!

What a joke this woman was! What a joke her friends were. Selling themselves to make a living; alas what else was there for a woman of her 'status' to do?

The Joker began to strip off his three piece suit, leaving him in his white wife beater, socks and trousers. He didn't want this _dirty_ thing to touch his suit. Only he was allowed to touch his suit.

Once comfortable Joker thrusted the woman to a wall near his desk and began to crush her as he began his aggressive assault on her lips and neck with his own rotting teeth and scarred lips. Joker had no intention of being gentle if the thing he was going to pleasure himself with was going to have degrading and crude thoughts of him. Why should he be gentle with her if she was so openly going to be turned off by his scars, if she openly stared at his scars, if she so openly was disgusted by the sight of him?

As he brought his assault to her neck, biting her, leaving bruises; his eyes accidentally came to rest upon the forgotten teacup and saucer that was left by a certain mime. He began to bite harder at the blonde's neck and growled, murmuring "Oh this isn't over yet…" he said to Mimer as if she could _magically_ hear him.

Oh, if only he knew!

The terror-stricken woman gasped and whimpered in pain as bit down harder, "What?"

"Nothing. Shut up!" Joker grunted, grasping her by the waist more tightly. He bit and licked more of the woman's neck but he kept glancing at the teacup and saucer. At the rim of the dainty teacup were stains of Mimer's crimson lipstick. For some odd reason this made Joker as hard as a rock. He kept his eyes trained on the teacup and he couldn't seem to take his eyes off of where the lipstick stained the rim of the teacup.

Joker shook his head, "_**Woman**_" he thought to himself "**Nothing more**…"

The Joker grabbed the blonde's thighs and raised them to his hips. She obeyed and curled her legs around his hips, though unsurely. He rocked his hips wanting to get it done and over with as quickly as possible.

…

Mimer watched as most of the men scurried away with at least two or three woman each by their arms, all except for Adam and Georgie. As Mimer came down she passed Guy who had seemingly gotten drunk and he gave her a wink as she passed by; but he did not mean it to be a vulgar gesture. Adam and Georgie waited on the ground floor for the Mimer to come by and exchange farewells.

Adam sat there with both of his knees bouncing with impatience, whilst Georgie was shifting from one foot to the other standing near Adam.

Adam couldn't help but shoot up as Mimer came down the last set of stairs and met him halfway for a handshake. She beamed at him as he held his breath. Georgie looked at Adam funnily before he gave his farewells to Mimer. Kissing each cheek whilst giving them her farewells like any good ol' French, Mimer knew how to play with the men.

Once their farewells were given Georgie sauntered off to find a pair of headphones to drown out the noises of passion and lust whilst Adam walked Mimer out. Adam stuffed his hands in his pockets and he walked side by side with Mimer until they came to the curb.

Once there Adam took his right hand out once more, Mimer looked down at the hand and took his hand with her own "I hope I can repay you fully… and be in no type of debt to you, Mimer"

Mimer smiled again, this smile reaching her eyes, and she leaned in to kiss each of Adam's cheeks, giving him the physical answer of 'Don't worry' rather than verbal answer.

Of course she couldn't give him a _verbal_ answer, how ludicrous of Adam to think so. He of _all_ people should know.

And with that she was on her way.

Little did Adam know that Joker's keen and sharp eyes had been on them this whole time, since they first stepped out into the streets, and this small gesture caught his attention.

"Jo- I mean _Daddy_, your baby girl needs attention!" Joker heard the woman behind him call.

In reply he pulled out a revolver from his back pocket of his trousers that had recently been done up and he shot her straight in between the eyes without even so much as looking at her. _Her purpose was done._

Joker leaned back on the heels of his foot as he eyed Mimer go off in the distance _fearlessly_.

He liked that. It was not every day you found a woman who was able to live in a man's world.

To Joker, women were fragile little things that were very high maintenance. They wasted time, space, energy and money. To be involved with one was certain death: either quick or in most cases _slow_. To marry one was being enslaved.

In conclusion, women were a nuisance (to Joker anyway). Yet it was very surprising and delightful to find one that stood out and well… survived without a man.

Joker believed that Mimer was one of those woman and boy was he ecstatic to test her out.

* * *

Batman had recently followed up a lead on one of the most mysterious cold case, and he wasn't too excited about his fruitless findings. Each instance there were roughly around twenty men, all being killed within ten minutes, and no trace of the killer.

They all had one link: they were men that the Mob used to do their dirty work.

However, that begged the question, who would be targeting the Mob?

Surely it was not the Joker, he had _better_ things to do, and it couldn't have been rival gangs, they were _puny_ compared to the Mob; not to mention the Mob held a large proportion of power in Gotham.

So then who else was there in Gotham that would do such a thing?

The lead led to nothing but hushed whispers and rumours of a being that stalked its prey in the shadows and is as silent as death itself. When Batman asked a few people here and there he got a name: The Mime (or Mimer).

Rumours had it that if one were to endlessly think of the mime that he would appear for a split second, give his hellos, and then vanish without a trace.

Unfortunately, he only got a name, he didn't find any description of this _Mimer_ or any other information.

Whoever this sad man was, running around as a mime and killing other men without hesitation, Batman would find him and bring him to justice. This pathetic mime may have had no say in the matter but Batman would make him sing if it meant he would give an explanation as to why he is killing so many people.

Bruce sat gazing at the skyline of Gotham's metropolis, cars honking, people scattering the streets going to wherever they needed to go, shops busy and alive with customers… a few pickpockets here and there. Alfred stood beside him, "Sir, what would you be starting off with today?"

Bruce paused before he answered his old friend, "I need to improve my suit…"

"Mr Fox would be more than happy to help"

Bruce nodded though in all honesty he wasn't paying full attention; his mind was still on the Mime, and this didn't go unnoticed by Alfred "Master Wayne, is there something bothering you?"

Bruce shifted his gaze to his feet, and he rested his arm on the armrest, he sighed "What do you make of this _mime_, Alfred?"

"I think he is a man who is either out for revenge or…" Alfred inclined his head "He is a man who will do anything for money"

"Whatever the reason, I only hope that I either catch him or he stops before he goes too far" Bruce then rubbed his face, exhausted.

"Master Wayne, this man is either very sharp or he is a little sod who is a new resident to Gotham and has no idea what he's gotten himself into" Alfred grunted, keeping his chuckles in the back of his throat.

An amused smile graced Bruce's lips, "Speaking of mimes…" Bruce then pointed to a few street performers, one slightly resembling a mime.

There was quite a crowd for the street performers considering it was Gotham, and what with all the crime and businesses. The performers' bodies moved in sync with the blaring music. Strangely the mime leaned against the nearby streetlamp and watched on with the audience. She was facing sideways to them, so her left side was exposed to Bruce and Alfred. She was not in the audience itself and Bruce felt that she stuck out like a sore thumb. Was the mime not with the other performers?

What was even stranger was that it seemed as if no one else could see him, or they didn't know he was there. It was like the mime wasn't even there but simply a part of the streetlamp despite the fact that the mime stood out due to his hat and make-up… and his strange neck tie.

Bruce felt his brows furrow and his forehead wrinkle as he studied the mime closely, he clothes were far from a typical mimes clothes but the make-up was no doubt that of a mimes.

"What's he doing?" Bruce asked more himself, as he leaned forward.

"He seems to be a bystander, Sir" Alfred nodded his head back to her "And he has quite the senses…"

When Bruce looked back at the mime he was looking straight back at them. Bruce leaned back in his seat, how in the world did he spot them amongst all of the skyscrapers?

He raised a hand in greeting and a small smile left his lips before he disappeared behind a passing truck. Bruce scanned the area but he could not find him, he then turned to Alfred "Did you just see that, Alfred?"

"Yes, he seems to have waved to us… and then disappeared. What a mime he was…" Alfred scoffed.

Bruce laughed heartily "The Mob's men are under the suspicion that if they think about the Mimer too much, he will come out of the shadows to say 'hi' and then disappear"

As Bruce laughed his heart out Alfred flickered his eyes from where the mime had been to Bruce, he coughed "Master Wayne, sometimes there's no such thing as a coincidence, _sometimes_"

Bruce wiped a tear "What are you getting at, Alfred?"

Alfred took a step back for Bruce to stand up and Bruce gazed into Alfred's solemn eyes "Master Wayne, I think you saw a glimpse of the supposed Mimer, after all he has been on your mind all week."

Bruce looked back at Alfred, flabbergasted "Alfred, don't tell me you really-"

"I do believe in coincidences but do you really think that _this_ was a chance encounter, Master Wayne?" all hints of humour were gone.

Bruce then looked back at the stop where the mime had been.

"**Was it a coincidence?**" Bruce thought to himself.

* * *

Mimer wasn't a people's person, no, not at all. However, experience taught her so much through the years and she felt the need to go out in the streets this morning. It was surprisingly a bright day, very surprising. She loved the cloudy rainy weather, like the weather in Britain. Cloudy, dark, showers and fog.

As Mimer passed a few streets here and there she wound up in the metropolis, somehow. She hid in the crowds and found herself leaning against the nearby streetlamp.

This scene brought a sense of nostalgia. Street preforming, what wonderful and nightmarish memories they brought her. However the nostalgia did not last long, she then felt a burning sensation on the left of her.

She turned catching the stalkers straight on. She was grateful for the sharp senses she had acquired over the years.

There high up in the skyscrapers was a man along with, what looked like, his elderly butler. The man was seated, with a view of the whole area. He had brown slicked back hair, and his three piece black suit looked to be at least two thousand dollars. The elderly man was speaking to the younger man who looked at the elderly butler in respect.

Mimer read his lips, he said 'He seems to be a bystander, Sir'. The elderly man made eye contact with her and nodded his head in her direction 'And he has quite the senses'.

Mimer held up a hand in respect and felt a smile pull on her face. They thought that Mimer was a man.

Mimer sadly thought to herself "**If only I were…**"

She needed to get out of there and fast. Someone had seen her and she needed to go, no reason why, she just wanted to go.

Mimer spotted a nearing Freightliner truck from her peripheral view. As it passed her, she grabbed onto one of the straps of the trailer and held on, she had to hold her hat down because of the strong wind. Once she was steadied she crawled underneath the truck and squashed her feet under the bottom and held herself in place.

Funnily, no one saw her. What luck she had, it was almost ludicrous at how many bozos were around in Gotham.

Once the truck entered the narrows she let go and rolled over on the ground, near the curb. She felt her ribs bruise as she fell onto the concrete road. Had it been a busy day in the narrows then Mimer wouldn't have dared to pull that stunt off, however it was the slow time, there were already hardly any people out in the narrows and at this time there was no one in the narrows.

The locals called it 'ghost time'. It was strange. The 'ghost time' seemed to happen randomly but only the best new that it wasn't random. It just kept changing from time to time due to recent events. For example when Gambol was killed, ghost time lasted from four am to ten pm. This lasted for about a week.

What was even more curious was that it wasn't like a curfew, people just didn't leave their homes: and if they did it was to go to 'work'.

Mimer pushed herself off of the ground and dusted her suit off. She did not like doing what she did but she did that in emergencies, plus she had a vague idea where the truck was going and she had no intention of going that far.

As Mimer took her way to the shadows she felt something vibrate silently in her right pocket. It was Adam. He needed help with a little riddle he had found and no one could crack it… and they didn't want to ask the Joker.

As she was finally free and had a small window for self-entertainment before she had to get back to '_work'_, she replied texting back that she would come to their hide out soon, in about five minutes. So, with her new course she made her way around the shabby businesses and rugged ghosts lurking around. Now all she had to do was round a corner and in the middle would be Joker's lair.

As she sauntered into the empty streets, again she felt that burning sensation, kindly informing her that someone was watching her.

Mimer raised her head slightly to look at the third floor of the building and there, through the boards, she found a pair of brown eyes that were encircled by black holes, giving the impression that the person that the eyes belonged to were soulless.

It was Joker.

She tipped her hat to him as she approached the building, however she received no answer back.

It seemed as though she would spend _almost_ another night with none other than the Joker.

**To be continued…**

* * *

**Thank you all for reading, I will update but not soon. I'm not sure when I will update next but I will update, so no worries there. Please, please, pretty please leave a review. It helps a lot.**

**Until next time,  
Suki.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Equal.

It had to be equal numbers. She never quite understood why she was like this but she was. She couldn't stand it if there was not an equal amount. Not one bit.

If there were three chips left she would offer one to someone else just so she would eat two chips. If there were five cars parked in one lane she would destroy the fifth one just so there would be four cars parked in the lane.

And as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other she contemplated how she would equal out this one.

It was a box with three flashing dots. _Three_!

Though on the outside she looked calm and collected Adam knew better. This was killing her on the inside…

When he and the guys found this box in the alley they thought best to leave it but Guy was oh too curious and snatched it off the wet ground before they scuttled back to the hideout. He said something along the lines of '_It's ain't ticking so it ain't a bomb_.' Now, originally Guy promised to keep it to himself yet as soon as he began to examine the box he tossed it to Adam and demanded him to open it up for him. Problem was even he couldn't solve the enigma and Georgie wasn't the smartest cookie out of the batch.

So they called the smart one of the group: The Mime.

Her frosty gaze dragged over every inch of the box. "**At the very least the lengths are **_**nearly**_** equal and straight…**" Mime mused to herself.

Guy shoved Adam to a side and ensured Mime could see his face. "So you think you can do it?" Guy requested, with a twinkle in his eyes.

Mime cocked her head, scowling at the box. She abruptly took a seat in the rickety chair near the broken circular table and cocked a brow at the box. It had a green question mark splat down in the middle.

Adam hastily took a seat to Mime's right, he cleared his throat "if it's any consolation, the... the _dot_ of the question mark can be the fourth" he locked with Mime's eyes "…dot" he mumbled in the end.

"What did he say?" Georgie rambled behind them.

Adam looked over his shoulder "I said '_if it makes ya feel better we got some pot lyin' around. A lot of pot'. _That's what I said!" irritably he yelled.

When Adam looked back at Mime her brows had reached the middle of her forehead. Adam fidgeted in his seat embarrassed by his outburst so Mime brought her attention back to the box.

"**Don't focus on it, don't focus on it, don't focus on it.**" Mime chanted in her mind and tried not to let her mind ruminate about the flashing dots.

Mime lifted the box, weighing it, then revolved it in her hand. There was a button on every face including the bottom. The button on the front face had a symbol of a tree, the button on the left face had a symbol of wings, the button on the right face had a symbol of a key, the button on the back face had a symbol of a quaver, and the button on the bottom had a symbol of tides.

The note stated _"I do not have a body but I can take shape of anything. The wind is my friend, adding to my ferocity as does time."_

Mime pouted slightly in thought, her eyes shifting to the ceiling.

Adam gawked at her intently so did Guy and Georgie so much so that they didn't notice a shadow sneaking up behind them. Georgie and Guy froze when they both felt a hand snake behind their necks. Guy broke out in a cold sweat and Georgie clenched his hands into fists.

Simultaneously, both looked over their shoulder only to find that Joker had squeezed his head between their shoulders and was eyeing both Adam and Mime but more so Mime.

When Joker finally took notice of Georgie and Guy's gaze on him and put his index finger on his lips and then rather loudly "Shhhhh!"

Adam waved his hand at them but dared not to shift his gaze from Mime "Shut up, you idiot!" he harshly spoke in a hushed tone.

Georgie and Guy felt the hands on their shoulders tighten. Guy inhaled sharply which led Adam to wave a hand towards their way again "She's concentrating, trying to figure it out so shut up!"

True, Mime was concentrating, concentrating hard… just not about the riddle. "**There's five buttons, there's five buttons, **_**five**_** buttons! I can't be defeated by buttons. How shall I remove the fifth button? Something like this could ruin my life. No, I should focus on the riddle. I have to get rid of the fifth button or I could add a button to the top face that way there will be six buttons, an **_**even **_**number.**"

So absorbed she was she was not even aware of Joker's obnoxious voice "So, Ad-a-m. Having a little get together without little ol' me?"

Adam became rigid instantly: his palms began to become clammy and his back had become stiff straight with fright. "B… boss. We were just uhm…" Adam fidgeted with Mimer's hat which he had taken from her out of courtesy when she arrived.

'_Click_'.

All eyes were on the box. Mime had her finger on the button on the bottom, the symbol of the _tide_. She set the box down and peered inside. She pulled out a neon green question mark trophy.

She examined it closely before setting it down on the table. She turned to Guy and grinned but nodded her head in acknowledgement at Joker who merely smirked at her maliciously.

"Aw come on! Don't tell me that was all that was in there?" Guy huffed, frustrated. "That's the _second_ one and I don't even know what they're for!"

When Mime didn't respond Adam nudged her and gave her back her hat. Mimer jumped and smiled gratefully at Adam before taking her hat. She almost got lost in those intense black pools that were in Joker's skull. So intense his eyes were.

"Did she hear me?" Guy asked Adam. Adam shook his head and Mime having paid attention this time chuckled lightly and her shoulders rose to her ears.

Adam smiled knowingly, she hunched her shoulders when she was embarrassed as if her shoulders would be the centre of attention rather than her face.

"Hey Georgie!" the moment was ruined by Joker "Did you get rid of the _trash_ like I asked you to?"

By '_trash_' he meant the dead bodies that were down in the basement. Georgie inclined his head "Yeah got them all 'cept for one."

"_Well_"

Then Georgie was off. "I'll come with." Guy was gone too. Now it was just Adam and Mimer… oh and the Joker.

Adam pulled a bag out "Here's the take away, Boss"

It was probably cold by now but he didn't know this since time with Mimer simply flew by.

"Ah, you mean the one I, uh, ordered two hours ago?"

He hesitated "Yeah".

"Well _Adam_. Tell me why I shouldn't-"

He was cut off by a buzz. It had come from Mimer's pocket. She pulled out her flip phone and scanned it. She clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. She stuffed it in her pocket and pulled on her hat. She faced Adam and quickly signed to him.

She attempted to rush past Joker but he grabbed her wrist in a bruising grip which made her gnash her teeth together. "Where are you going? You just got here, Mime-mah!"

"She's gotta go Boss. It's an emergency-" Adam interjected but Joker growled.

"She's got'a tongue of her _own, _doesn't she?"

Adam looked unsure and clenched and unclenched his fists. He glanced at Mimer who glanced at him confusingly. _She couldn't see Joker's lips_.

Adam gaped at Joker, not knowing how to break it to him but Joker was growing rather bored of Adam and snatched the bag before he marched off to his _lair_. Adam wanted so badly to follow them but… he knew better. He knew that look Joker flashed him before he stomped off. He just prayed Mimer would survive the night. He hated himself for being so weak.

Mimer had attempted to yank her arm back but whenever she did his grip increased like a python around its prey. Suffocating it. She couldn't over power him at least not now in the narrow corridor that they were in.

He finally let go when they got to his room. Mimer rubbed her wrist and looked at him expectantly. Joker tossed the bag on the table that was now clear of blueprints and mirrored Mimer's expression.

"So beautiful, are ya gonna stand there or are ya gonna take a seat while I'm still offering it-_ah_?"

Mimer vaguely wondered what he wanted with her at this time. She was in a hurry if he couldn't see that. She frowned and popped down in the seat in front of him, she was just going to hear him out and then go.

Joker pulled out two boxes of Chinese, slamming one down in front of her, along with chopsticks. He then fell in his own chair and began to scoff down his food. Mimer was taken back by his manners, or lack of. He paused, she thought to breath, but it was to look over to Mime "Ain't ya hungry?" he pointed at her with his chopsticks.

Mimer felt her brows furrow and she looked him over puzzled. This painted man, clothes half covered in dirt, and noodles dangling from his mouth had dragged her up to his room to share his dinner with her.

Joker blinked several times at her before he spoke.

"I'm bored-ah." _I need company._

"And you seemed to fit the bill." _And you're here to entertain me, to give me company._

Mimer slumped in her chair and shook her head. As if making up her mind she pulled off her hat and set it on the table. She was lucky and she knew it. He could've killed her and she knew it. He could still snap and kill her and she knew it.

Mimer didn't touch the food but gave him her attention nonetheless, "So?"

That was the first word she had said to him since they met. _So._

Her voice was stern but had a certain flow to it. Joker could only describe it as the flow of water. Rippling yet mellow.

Joker swallowed his noodles, paused. "So-oo?" he dragged it out.

Mimer paused herself too, "What do you want?" she clasped her hands and rested her hands on the table, shifting to face him entirely. She didn't feel safe and she was right to feel so.

It was there, very faint, but still there. She had an accent. A French one.

"You're not from 'round here, are you?"

Mimer blinked at him in surprise. There it was again, she paused as if she didn't want to speak in the first place, "No, I'm not."

"You a Frenchie?" Joker wagged his brows, wolfing down some more noodles.

She nodded. "Yes."

Joker nodded and spoke through a mouth full of noodles "What's a Frenchie doing here in Gotham?"

Mimer's lips twitched downwards briefly. She was staring at his lips again, was it the scars?

"What?" she cocked her head slightly.

Joker chuckled darkly; he thought she was distracted by his scars. How wrong he was. "I said, what's a Frenchie doin' in Gotham?"

It was her turn to chuckle but in a much lighter tone, "Why? Am I not allowed to be here?"

Joker examined her eyes, "Just wonderin' why a French gal like you would come to America, _Gotham_, of all places?"

He watched her jaw work. She had taken it the wrong way, "A… _gal…_ like me?" she mimicked him.

"A gal like you" Joker repeated. "Got sick of home, did ya?"

That struck a nerve and they both knew it. Oh he wasn't going to let go of her now.

"Oh I don't blame ya. I would get sick of frogs and snails too if I had to eat that every day."

Mimer pulled back on her reins, her rage being subdued.

"Not to mention all of the lover boys there with the ladies hooked to their arms like fishes… Paris, the city of _love_. More like-"

"I'm not from Paris. Even so, I know for a fact that Paris is not full of love struck fools and nor do we eat frogs or snails… it is a delicacy. Like _Foie_ _gras_. You either love it or hate it."

There it was again, she pronounced Paris and Foie gras like how the French would pronounce it, not like the Americans.

"Fua gua?" Joker asked amused.

"_Foie gras_" she corrected him,"it is a dish consisting mostly of goose liver."

Joker grimaced, "How _scrumptious-ss_. That must be, uh, fun to make."

Joker began to cackle until he caught her staring at his lips again. It was starting to irritate him. His laughter abruptly ceased and he grabbed her by the back of the head. He dragged a switchblade over her jawline, catching some make up along the way.

She didn't even flinch. But her eyes were hard. His eyes twitched with vexation as her eyes were still locked on his lips.

His tongue slithered out in a flash and returned to his mouth, "Is it the scars? Wanna know how I got 'em?"

He nodded but she gawked at him astounded. _What made him think that?_

"So I had a fine gal once, she was beautiful, like _you_. Who would look out for me even though she couldn't stand the sight of me." He nodded, "one night I come home and there she is cryin' her eyes out 'cuz I work long hours, yaknow."

He leaned in, his blade hungrily reaching for Mimer's plump lips "she looks at me and says 'Jay, when are ya gonna stop workin' these long hours and look after me?'"

Mimer knew this was a fib the moment he began his little 'story'. She could tell by his heart beat. A person's heart beat became irregular if a fib slipped through their lips.

"So I said to her that she needed to lighten up. And passed out in my bed" He had dived deep into the story by now "when I wake up she's on me with a knife. I scream, tell her to, uh, _get off_. She carved my face up and _left_ me."

Finally, Mimer looked straight in Joker's eyes.

Now she understood.

He didn't know.

She assumed Adam had already told him.

When she felt the blade touch the left corner of her mouth she did the first thing that came to mind and grabbed his wrist, pulling out her own butterfly knife and held it to his jugular.

Joker tensed, that wasn't a good sign. She was treading on _very _thin ice.

Mimer's eyes blackened, her gaze as strong as steel. She was a wounded dog and her teeth were sharp and bare, very to maul anything that dared to come in to close proximity to her. When she finally verbalised her musings it was with great care, "*******1**_Ça m'est égal_. I don't care about the scars, I just went to get down to business. Or perhaps you want a war, *******2** une guerre des mots."

Joker wasn't fluent in the French language but even he understood that she genuinely couldn't give a tosh about his scars.

Joker's tongue flashed over his lips which caused Mimer to shift uncomfortably. "Well, you-ah seem _very _fascinated by them. I could only assume-"

She quickly fired back, "Don't presume anything about me and I will do the same for you."

Joker smacked his lips loudly "Then why are you still staring at them?"

Mimer grew silent and the atmosphere grew bitterly cold like winter had just taken summer's limelight. Joker narrowed his eyes as both persons removed their weapons. Without another word Mimer dived for the exit and that was the last Joker saw of Mimer for the weeks.

;-;-;-;-;-;-;-;

"What's wrong wit Mimer?" Guy queried, "She hasn't even given'a friendly 'hello' like usual."

Georgie concurred "Yea, she even missed out on our night."

None were aware that Joker was silently eavesdropping on their conversation. Having come back from recruiting some more scumbags for Joker and his big '_idea_', the gang sat near the pool table and were on their smoke break. At least Guy and Georgie were; Adam never went near the cancer rolls though he was used to the burning fumes now.

"I dunno. She hasn't told me much" Adam began. "She wasn't too happy when the Boss… _intervened_ with her business."

Joker cleaned his knife a little more aggressively with a cloth.

Guy took a long drag "You don't mean…"

Adam nodded "Yeah, _probably_."

Joker slammed his knife into the counter wedging it into the table and continued on with the other knife. Funny, none of his buffoons were even aware that Joker was leisurely lounging in the adjacent room on the bottom floor as his idiot men were going high whilst grunge music blared from the speakers. Some were killing their brain cells by drinking, some were losing their minds by something various amount of drugs, some were already bonkers as it was and some were creating a tumour for their lungs.

_Ah, the pleasures of life_.

When Joker finished with his knives he collected them in his pockets and entered the main room that the imbeciles were occupying. Their laughter and whoops died down once they saw a flash of purple and someone even hurriedly shut the music off.

"Boss."

Joker merely stared at his men. He didn't see men, or even humans, he saw monkeys at his disposal like pigs for slaughter. When he didn't move a muscle one man dared to take a swing of his beer but found a knife lodged in between his ribs. He screamed in fright but no one dared to aid him. He fell to the floor and clutched his side.

Joker was thoroughly out of his mind. He needed to get work done but he still didn't have enough man power and at the speed he was receiving men he wouldn't be able to carry out his grand plan – apologies, his grand idea - in like twenty years.

Two years had passed since he had been put in Arkham and the Batman had apparently _retired_. Joker was not so pleased when he became aware of that fact and he was going to make sure that Batman only truly retired until he reached the grave.

Never had Joker thought that Harvey _Dent-ah _could've been such a pain, even after death.

If he could he would resurrect Harvey just so he could kill him over and over again. Skin his alive, disfigure him even further, break him until he was nothing more than the average man.

If he was going to hire men and quick for that matter he would have to recruit them himself.

"You!" Joker pointed at Adam with a knife he had just pulled out of one of his men "Come with me."

There was no hesitation. Joker slipped on his large trench coat and sauntered off into the night. He always loved to work during the night as there was more of a chance to run into his dear Batman and because he thrived more in the dark. He leeched off of the darkness by physically and metaphorically.

They didn't take the van like Adam thought they would. Instead they went on foot.

Adam went out of his way to make sure he didn't get on Joker's bad side which was the quite hefty task considering that almost anything and everything got on his nerves, except for Batman. Now that was a _special_ case.

"Know any _good_ speakeasies?" Joker inquired from Adam. Now this was not the speakeasies that normal people thought of. No, when any criminal mentioned a 'speakeasy' he would be referring to the hell holes where hired muscle could be bought and where criminal occasionally held several _conferences_, so to speak. Speakeasies were also physical gateways to the black market.

"Yeah, The Tomb."

The Tomb was one such speakeasy and it was the hotspot for most criminals in central Gotham especially for those who wanted a part in something big. The real kicker was that it was located directly under GCPD.

Joker once remarked '_so how do you hide something form the world's greatest detective? Well did you know, you stick right in front of him, right under his long pointy nose._'

Once they went underground, Adam had his hand hovering over his hand gun whilst Joker merrily skipped over to the entrance of the speakeasy. Of course it was guarded and manned constantly and you only got a free pass if you were recognised. Joker didn't even have to stop for the doors to open because they were already half way open by the time he reached them.

As the metallic vault groaned in its opening Adam heard heavy breathing from behind them. He glanced behind him only to be met with sewage water. He really didn't like this place particularly since he knew that _thing_ was down here somewhere.

Adam took off the safety of his gun and scoured the area but just as he turned he saw movement in the sewage water.

_It _refused to stalk Joker and his dog anymore so scurried off to the maze of a sewage system. Adam relaxed only slightly when he saw it move away from him. He holstered him hand gun and trotted after Joker.

_That was a close one._

Did I mention, speakeasies were a different world entirely? The Tomb resembled more of a Stone Age society rather than a modern one. It was not a place for the fragile or light hearted ones.

Joker weaved through the crowds not going unnoticed by the crowds. They would've parted like the red sea if they could however The Tomb was packed to the brim; one could've choked to death if they weren't careful.

Adam struggled to keep up with Joker as he headed for his turf. The structure of The Tomb was beyond strange when compared to how things went up on the surface. Strange in the sense that the proximity and level of calmness was almost abnormal.

The ceiling was covered with leaky piping, the main conference room was just below the piping and had several metallic stairwells leading up to it and just below in the middle was a stage of sorts which was where usually the announcements were made. However, it wasn't all nice and dandy. Criminals naturally detested each other – hostility was normal between everyone, the only exception was when they would join forces for mutual interests arising. And so the middle ground was for everyone to 'mingle'.

The Tomb had several corners, corners which would be invaded by different gangs, the largest corner was reserved for the most powerful, of course. In this case it was Joker currently although when there was a shift in power things would get messy down here. Thankfully, it wasn't every day when someone had the audacity to challenge the King.

Each corner was sectioned off by the gang's lower members, almost patrolling a perimeter, and if one had business with the leader they would have to get past the dogs. Almost anything could come into the category of BUSINESS: from wanting a job to duelling and passing on information on anything. If you wanted to know anything you would come to a speakeasies as they were the cesspool of scumbags but also information and resources.

This is the reason why not just everyone could enter. For if anyone could enter then Batman would've tracked down each and every one of these speakeasies.

Now depending on the gang's power they would have more materials to themselves in the speakeasies. So if you were on the lower end of the food chain your corner would be bare.

Fortunately, for Adam he was right. There were dozens if not hundreds of men awaiting for Joker. Ever since it was announced that Batman had gone missing for the first year, criminals came pouring in, one could dare say that there was a crime boom.

The amount of theft doubled and activity in the black market tripled in Gotham. Everyone was rushing to get the job done before the Batman came back… _if_ he came back.

As Adam stepped into Joker's territory Adam did a double take to his left. He thought he saw Mimer amongst the men that were awaiting Joker's judgement. It was _probably his imagination_. After all, he was missing her terribly. Besides Mimer would be crazy to come to the Tomb of all places. The Tomb was one of the speakeasies with connections to the Mob: she _wasn't _welcomed.

It was rumoured that someone had hired a hitman to get rid of the Maroni clan, a hitman who was dressed as a Mime, a Mime that was as silent as death itself. The strange thing was that in speakeasies there were hardly any rumours mostly facts and figures. Rarely anything as unstable as a rumour.

So that mime, whoever he was, should tread carefully, specifically those who resembled a mime even slightly. Adam scoured the crowds as a precaution considering that Joker rarely came down to speakeasies himself. Yet, as he did so he began to wish he didn't.

He wasn't imagining things.

Joker swiftly went through the men he would accept and those who would not but he came to an abrupt halt as he spotted a flash of white.

The crowd parted as if the plague had entered the area and it became eerily silent in his area. That never happened, ever. It was only ever silent if someone were on the stage yet even then one could catch the tell-tale signs of a whisper or a snigger here and there. The silence was like an infection. It rooted out to the other gangs who were now acutely aware of a certain _guest _who was visiting Joker.

Click. Click. Click. Click. _Click_.

The cane came to a halt. There in all her glory stood the Mime. Oddly, Joker noticed that she did not tip her hat during their exchange of pleasantries in fact she did not offer any at all. Quite the contrary, it looked as if she were about to scowl at him.

"Well, what can I do for you Mime-ah?" Joker licked his scars in anticipation. He didn't know what he did to set her off on him like this but he welcomed it either way.

Mimer eyed him down but when she opened her mouth to rebuke him she was interrupted which didn't please either Joker or Mimer.

"You ain't welcomed her, you twat!"

Penguin came trudging down from his little castle and was bold enough to step into Joker's territory. Penguin of all had suffered most from the attacks on the Mob, so one could say that the volcano was erupting within him.

Mimer gave no indication of annoyance and simply rolled her eyes to him "Excuse you?"

"I said, you ain't welcomed here. Did you really think you could get away with wha ye did?" He smacked his cane as if testing her.

Joker saw a flicker of amusement in Mimer's eyes. She was dancing on the edge of a volcano, one slip up and she was a goner. She would fall into the mouth and she would be incinerated within a blink of an eye.

Penguin never let her answer, "I'm gonna wring yer pretty little neck and feed it to me dogs-"

"No you're not."

Her voice echoed off of the walls. It took a while for Penguin to register that she had spoken.

He looked at her down her nose "Why not?"

Mimer smirked smugly.

Joker narrowed his eyes "**She had expected this.**"

Mime pulled out a small device from her pocket and held it at eye level, for average height people anyway. "Do you know what this is, *******3**_pingouin_?" her tone suggested she were talking to a child.

His cheeks flushed in ignorance.

"It's a heart monitor. If my heart stops this entire area will be blown up and flooded."

A series of gasps could be heard throughout The Tomb and many began to get anxious.

"*******4**si je peux me permettre, Joker"

Before a stampede broke out Mimer said six words which put a stop to it all.

"I challenge you to a _duel_."

* * *

**To be continued…**

***1 – I don't care.**

***2 – a war of words.**

***3 – penguin.**

***4 – If I may be so bold/if you don't mind my asking.**

**A/N:  
Yes, I am continuing this story before my other Hellsing stories because I need to work out how to tie up a few loose ends for that one before continuing. Please feel free to leave a review and thank you for reading. **

**~Suki**


	4. Chapter 4: monomachy

Chapter 4: monomachy

'_I want to slit our throat and fuck the wound  
I wanna push my face in and feel the swoon'  
Slipknot – Disasterpiece_

"I challenge you to a duel."

The atmosphere was impregnated with tension. The sweat on Adam's brow glistened as the candles flickered and his fists trembled with anxiety for the mime. No one survived a challenge against Joker.

"A duel-ah?" Joker drawled.

"Yes" she responded tersely.

Penguin could be seen lurking at the edge of the circle that had formed around the two opponents, attempting to flee the predicament before it turned nasty however Joker would not allow it.

"Oh Co-bble-pot. Be a sport and be the referee, won't ya?" It was a command laced with a threat.

Penguin swallowed thickly and begrudgingly stepped between the two. With trepidation evident in his cracking voice he recited the words he had heartily delivered many times before "may the challenger state their grounds?"

Mimer looked Joker dead in the eye, her eyes glinting with obstinacy "Loss of clientele."

There was a mumble from the crowd, the general mood was in favour of Mimer.

Penguin grunted, "And does the challenged accept?"

Joker's tongue whipped out, licking his chops "Of course-sah."

Adam cringed when he glanced towards the Joker; he looked as if he were about to devour the Mimer whole. He could only be described as feral in his current state. The rules were simple but a duel was deadly nonetheless.

1 – The challenger must provide a reason for their grief against the challenged: the challenged has a right to either accept or decline the case.

2 – Both opponents must have a second in hand.

3 – There must be a physician and/or someone with medicinal knowledge on standby.

4 – Both parties must come to an agreement in the choice of weapon: if common ground cannot be found then the duel would commence with pistols.

5 – Both parties must come to an agreement to end the duel either by first blood or death.

6 – Only the referee may dictate and interfere the duel.

Depending on the choice of weaponry do the rules continue.

Penguin nodded "Very well then. May the second in hand come for-"

Joker interjected "_Adam_ here will be my second." His smirk widened for he knew that Adam was loyal to the mime as he was to him and he would rather aggravate her than allow Adam to be on her team. Adam took his position next to Joker with great guilt which was evident in his shimmering eyes that darted on and off of Mimer's own narrowed eyes.

Adam could not discern any anger directed towards him from Mimer but he didn't keep his hopes high.

Mimer abruptly jabbed her cane into the ground so that it stayed upright and begun to remove her blazer and hat.

Penguin rolled his eyes exasperatedly when no one stepped forth as her second "Oi, Mime. Do you even have a second or not?"

When Mimer ignored him his race turned red "Why you little… You come in here, make a commotion then don't even bring a-"

"_Who said she didn't have a second?"_

The circle broke as a mass of green muscle advanced towards the Mimer's side. _Killer Croc. _His scales gleamed as he was still soaked with sewage water no doubt and his tail swayed as he took few but large strides. His yellow eyes held nothing but menace. He easily towered above anyone in the Tomb but Mimer certainly looked like a pipsqueak compared to him, so then how did she get him on his team?

Penguin felt his mouth go dry before he staggered and fell back into his position. "Sinc- since the seconds are in place, is there a doctor present?"

"I will suffice." Crane walked out of the crowd, baggy mask and all, and stood stiff beside Penguin.

It was then decided that pistols would be used as the two parties quarrelled about the choice of weapon.

Once all was in place the opponents stood their ground. The purpose of the second in hand was for the sake of fairness as it was they who provided their _friend_ with the weapon. A weapon that was not tampered with in any way and ready to be used against the opponent.

Adam handed over his Ruger SR1911 and a full magazine over to Joker after he checked for faults. As Joker loaded the clip he stared at Mimer intently, never taking his eyes off of her even whilst loading. He had removed his jacket and blazer leaving him with his vest and shirt.

On the opposing side Croc quite literally regurgitated a Dan Wesson Specialist and handed it over to Mimer after checking the clip. On lookers watched with a mixture of mockery and disgust but the mime paid them no attention and took the gun from Croc with appreciation.

"Duellists take your positions!" Penguin cried.

The seconds gave their friends room whilst Joker and Mime stood within feet of each other with their guns raised.

"Anyone firing before my word will be shot. You will duel to first blood…" Penguin left room for protest but neither opponent was against the idea "To first blood then. Any man" Penguin paused glancing towards Mimer "or _woman_, wounded will be tended by the doctor."

Crane stepped in "And no second shot will be fired."

The murmur of the crowd began again, whispers of who would win or lose and this time the voices was certain that Joker would win.

"When I drop this 'ere handkerchief you will approach each other and when you wan' there will be a… _polite _exchange of bullets."

Penguin raised his fat sausage of an arm and held his breath. The voices died down and time slowed as Penguin's grip on the handkerchief loosened. As it fluttered towards the ground Joker's sick grin spread wider on his face, the tight grip on his triggered was mirrored by Mimer. The anticipation was causing Mimer's hands to shake slightly and Joker did not miss it. There was a silent communication between the two.

Joker inclined his head, _scared are ya?_

Mime cocked her head, _never._

Joker licked his scars, _we'll see about that._

The handkerchief landed with a _pft_. Each opponent took five steps and then there was a pause.

Simultaneously, they pulled their triggers.

Joker shot her in the hand that wielded the gun but Mimer shot him in knee.

Mimer smirked triumphantly, _*__1__dégénéré!_

Joker grimaced internally, _damn bootlicker! Piss off._

Joker stumbled but Adam was quick to grab him whereas Croc didn't even move an inch. He didn't need to since Mimer was perfectly fine.

Joker whooped manically "Satisfied?"

Mimer chuckled "_Hardly_." She spat back.

Joker's head whirled with a retort but it died in his mouth as Crane loomed over him. "She's a good shot." He mumbled to himself than to Joker, "You'll have to be moved upstairs."

Joker pushed Crane aside only to catch Mimer walking off in the distance with Croc not far behind her.

It just so happened that she gave him a last glance with which he answered with a feral snarl, _this isn't over_.

She narrowed her eyes but exited swiftly, _I'm aware clown. It's only the beginning._

**To be continued…**

* * *

**A/N – So what did you think? I wanted this chapter to be centred around the duel only so it is short. Also, I put in a lot of thought and I came to the conclusion that Slipknot's Disataserpiece is the best song to describe the situation as the song is about someone who finally snaps at their bully and let's lose their aggression and make the bully feel the pain he has inflicted. In this case the bully is Joker and the victim is the Mimer. Mimer does this for herself but also for Adam (and other victims) to prove that he's not the only one with power.**

**Translations:****  
*1 – Inbred.**

**Please tell me what you think. Until next time,**

**~Suki**


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